Non-Immigrant Visas (other than Es, Ls and H-1B)

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On November 18, 2016, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule to “improve aspects of certain employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa programs.” This final rule also “amended regulations to better enable U.S. employers to hire and retain certain foreign workers who are beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions and are waiting…

Recently, the American Immigration Council (Council) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) teamed up on a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) seeking to “obtain the information needed to provide the public with an understanding of the operating procedures and Defendant USCIS follows when administering…

In a continuation of its effort to encourage eligible immigrants to become U.S. citizens, the Obama administration is proposing adjustments to the immigration benefit fee schedule that would raise the cost of some benefits but reduce naturalization fees for certain low-income immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its proposed changes to the U.S.…

USCIS has been working on mitigating the impact caused by the processing delay on I-129 petitions. In addition to transferring cases from Vermont Service Center to other Service Centers to balance caseloads, USCIS recently began allowing petitioners who filed Form I-129 requesting an extension of status or change of employer to contact USCIS after the…

On January 15, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amended its regulations to improve the programs serving the H-1B1, E-3 and CW-1 nonimmigrant classifications and the EB-1 immigrant classification, and remove unnecessary hurdles that place such workers at a disadvantage when compared to similarly situated workers in other visa classifications.

This final rule,…

As many are aware, H-1B nonimmigrant visa petition for FY 2017 may be filed starting April 1, 2016. For FY 2016, USCIS received approximately 233,000 cap subject petitions during the first five business days beginning April 1, 2016. This year, it is expected that more people will apply for H-1B than the number available (annual…

As many of you are aware, the processing of H-1B extensions at both USCIS’ California Service Center (CSC) and Vermont Service Center (VSC) continues to be significantly delayed. Currently, the reported processing times for H-1B extensions at both service centers is mid-June 2015. This extreme delay is causing extraordinary hardship to affected employers and employees…

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-113) into law, which increased fees for certain H-1B and L-1 petitioners. This law effectively reinstates PL 111-230, which sunset on Sept. 30, 2014, but increases the applicable fees.  According to the new law, H-1B visa petitioners who employ 50 or…

H-1B and L-1 employers who were subject to Public Law 111-230 and required to pay an additional filing fee of either $2,000 (H-1B) or $2,250 (L-1) do not need to pay these fees for petitions filed on or after Oct. 1, 2015. This additional fee only applied to certain companies with large numbers of H1B…

On September 30, 2015, President Obama signed a Continuing Resolution to extend funding of the US government through December 11, 2015, and temporarily avoid a government shutdown.  See http://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-passes-government-funding-bill-prior-to-midnight-deadline-1443623598.  The Continuing Resolution contained extensions for several important immigration programs including:

  • EB-5 Regional Centers
  • Conrad 30 J-1 Physician Waivers
  • Nonminister Religious Workers, and
  • E-Verify.

These…